


We Watched It Fall

by stardust_and_sunlight



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, this is inspired by (stolen completely from) the music video for only you by little mix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 19:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardust_and_sunlight/pseuds/stardust_and_sunlight
Summary: Cosette closed her eyes and sighed, taking a gulp of her beer and grimacing at the warm, flat bubbles, and then she opened her eyes and saw the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen in her life.Cosette's at a party, and then Éponine makes everything better.





	We Watched It Fall

**Author's Note:**

> The music video for [Only You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2sO8gK2IKk) by Little Mix came out on the 12th July- a whole fckn eleven months ago- and I started writing something that would have a happier ending and instead I have this which is basically the music video but with Eposette lol I am a disaster maybe I'll write more. Maybe.
> 
> Happy pride month everyone and also weird coincidence that I'm posting this on the same day as a new Little Mix video comes out? I've been almost done this for ages and eventually I just gave up and I'm posting it now. Kudos and comments are much appreciated!

Cosette was at a party. This was not a normal thing for her. She loved her friends, and she loved spending time with them, but she didn’t like big crowds, big parties. But it was Marius’s birthday, and Courfeyrac was throwing a surprise party that was only a successful surprise because Marius was so unobservant, and Cosette couldn’t bow out of this one.

Courfeyrac’s parents were out of town, and he seemed to have invited every single person he knew. The music was loud, people were spilling out of every room. There were copious amounts of booze, people were swimming in the pool, and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. Even Enjolras was dancing.

Cosette had a plastic cup of beer that was warm now, and she was sitting in the corner of the room, hating how awkward she felt.

She was confident in public speaking, in communication. She worked for a _newspaper,_ for god’s sake, and she spent her days talking to people. She could talk for hours with her friends and her colleagues and her dads. But somehow, put her in a party with strangers, and she was useless.

And so she nursed her beer and watched the party. She wasn’t having a _bad_ time, but she felt sort of detached, not really here. She was separate, watching, but not fully there.

Cosette closed her eyes and sighed, taking a gulp of her beer and grimacing at the warm, flat bubbles, and then she opened her eyes and saw the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen in her life.

Her skin was a lovely smooth light brown, and she had a mass of reddish brown curly hair, and she was wearing purple jean shorts and a leather jacket with nothing under it, the zip open, and it was unbelievably hot.  Cosette almost choked on her mouthful of beer. The girl looked a little lost, a little confused, a little entranced, and she was gazing around as if looking for someone she knew, dancing with the beat, and Cosette could almost hear Courfeyrac in her head, telling her to go talk to the gorgeous woman, Cosette, come on!

But Cosette _couldn’t_ , and she would have just sat there by herself with her warm beer for the whole night, waiting for her friends to come and sit with her, except that the girl glanced over at the corner Cosette was in, and then started _walking over._

Cosette almost gaped in astonishment, and only didn’t through extreme force of will.

“Hi,” said the girl, sitting heavily down next to Cosette. “I don’t know anyone here, can I sit with you?” Her voice was husky and strangely accented and just as beautiful as she was, and Cosette could only nod mutely.

“I’m Éponine,” the girl said, and Cosette awkwardly switched her beer to her other hand so she could shake the girl’s outstretched hand.

“I’m Cosette,” she said, and the girl- Éponine- grinned.

“Hi, Cosette,” she said, and Cosette’s name had never sounded so good. “What are you drinking?”

Cosette grimaced. “Beer? I don’t know.”

Éponine laughed. “Come on, let’s go and get some punch or something, because you look so sad drinking that, and you’re way too cute to look so sad.”

Cosette blushed despite herself, and downed the rest of her warm, flat beer to cover for her embarrassment, making a face.

Éponine laughed again, and then she stood up, and reached out, and Cosette took her hand and let herself be pulled to her feet, and then they were bopping along to the music as they weaved through the crowd to a table full of drinks.

Éponine grabbed two plastic cups and dipped them into a bowl of wicked-looking neon punch, handing one of the cups to Cosette.

“Cheers,” Éponine said, and they gently tapped their cups together.

Cosette drank, grimacing at the sickly sweet liquid, the alcohol tasting strong under the sugar, and Éponine drank with apparent glee at the taste.

“Let’s dance!” Éponine said, and without thinking, without worrying, Cosette nodded, and allowed herself to be pulled into the middle of the dance floor.

***

They’d been dancing for what seemed like hours, and Cosette wasn’t sure if she’d ever had this much fun at a party before. When they’d got tired, they’d played beer pong, and Cosette turned out to not be terrible at it- much better than Éponine, who’d hit Courfeyrac on the back of the head.

Cosette had drank several cups of the punch, and she was dancing much more freely than she had been. Éponine moved with a gorgeous fluid grace that would have made Cosette feel self-conscious, except Éponine was dancing with _her._

They had stopped dancing to rest, sitting in the corner with their drinks, out-of-breath and flushed with exertion and happiness and a little bit with alcohol, and something suddenly struck Cosette.

“Why have you been avoiding the swimming pool?” she asked, curious, because Éponine _had_ been avoiding it, staying inside when most people would have made a beeline for it the second they got too hot.

“Oh, no reason,” Éponine said, her face seeming oddly tense and her jaw tight. “I mean, I haven’t been, I mean, do you want to go swimming?” Éponine asked, stumbling over her words.

“No,” Cosette said hurriedly, and a look of palpable relief spread across Éponine’s face. “I don’t like wearing bikinis to these things.” And Éponine hadn’t answered her question, and the curiosity was still there, but now Éponine was blinking at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

Cosette laughed self-deprecatingly. “I know I shouldn’t care and often I don’t, but all these skinny, hot people everywhere at these parties… I just never want to stand next to them.”

Éponine looked gobsmacked, and seemed to be struggling for words.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-” but Cosette broke off as Éponine reached forward, taking her drink out of her hand and setting it gently on the floor, and then taking Cosette’s hands in her own.

“You are so beautiful,” Éponine said, and her voice was so sincere that Cosette couldn’t help the blush that spread across her face. “You are the most beautiful person here. Why else do you think I came and sat with you? You’re the most gorgeous person at this party, and you’re so smart and kind and witty as well. You’re just amazing.”

Cosette didn’t know what to say. She’d never had such lovely things said about her, and certainly never by such a beautiful person. She often felt _cute,_ but she would never have called herself beautiful, but Éponine was staring at her with such truth in her eyes that she couldn’t help but believe it.

“Thank you,” Cosette said, and she couldn’t say anything else.

Éponine smiled at her, a warm, beautiful smile, and Cosette was struck by the look in her eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” Cosette asked, and then felt herself flush bright red again. “I’m sorry, of course you don’t-”

And she was interrupted by Éponine leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the lips.

“Oh,” breathed Cosette, and Éponine laughed, and Cosette couldn’t help laughing too, and when they kissed again they were both smiling.

***

Cosette was tipsy, and sleepy, and happy, swaying to the slow music, wrapped in Éponine’s arms, her head resting against Éponine’s shoulder. They had danced and kissed and danced some more, always staying inside, away from the pool, and as the night progressed, the music had gradually became less upbeat, less wild, as people began to tire, began to pair off and leave the dance floor, either for sleep or for something else.

Cosette was so at peace, and she felt more at ease than she’d felt in a long time, in the arms of a woman she’d just met. She couldn’t explain it, but then- she didn’t have to. She was just here, in the moment.

“Oi!” came a sudden shout, aggressive, harsh, so at odds with the serene tipsy calm Cosette was feeling. She ignored it, nestled in Éponine’s arms, swaying gently to the music, but then Éponine was yanked away, roughly pulled backwards and turned to face the shouter, so fast that Cosette barely had time to blink, peeking over Éponine’s shoulder at a woman she didn’t know. The other woman’s pretty face was twisted with anger, and she was wearing a damp bikini, hair dripping, glowering at Éponine. Her hands on her hips, and she looked very drunk and very belligerent. “That’s my jacket!”

Éponine raised a puzzled eyebrow. “I don’t think so,” she said, sliding her hands into the pockets of said jacket. “It’s definitely mine.”

The woman looked enraged. Her friends tried to pull her back, but she wasn’t stepping away. “No, it’s _mine._ I took it off to swim and when I came out it was gone, you _stole_ it!” Her voice was raised now, and people were beginning to listen, turning their bodies to watch the developing scene with interest.

“Give me it!” snapped the woman, and she shoved Éponine, who stumbled, backing out of the room and onto the patio.

“Hey, hey,” Cosette interjected, stepping between the two of them, hands up to mediate. “There’s no need for violence-”

“Get out of my way!” the woman screeched, and Cosette could smell the alcohol on her breath as she pushed past Cosette, stomping towards Éponine, who backed away more, towards the pool that she’d been avoiding.

“This isn’t your jacket,” Éponine insisted, but she looked uneasy, and kept glancing back at the pool she was nearing, and the woman snarled, and then everything happened very fast.

The woman snatched at the jacket, and Cosette reached for the woman, and Éponine pushed the woman back, and then the woman crashed into Éponine, tipping her off balance…

And then Éponine was falling backwards, and Cosette saw the flash of terror on her face before she hit the water with an almighty splash, and sank like a stone.

Cosette was moving before she realised she was. There was only one reason why Éponine would have looked so scared, only one reason why she would have avoided the pool this whole night. She must not be able to swim.

And so Cosette dived into the pool, opening her eyes against the sting of the chlorine, reaching for Éponine, pulling her to the surface, lifting her out of the water…

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Gasps rang out around her, but all she could see was the fear in Éponine’s eyes. The jacket which had caused all the trouble was soaking, turned dark from the water, but where Éponine’s legs had been there was a beautiful blue tail. Éponine was a _mermaid._

“Please,” Éponine whispered, eyes darting about frantically to all the staring people. “Please, take me to the sea.”

And Cosette was helpless to do anything but nod, and pick Éponine up, and start walking. She was still dripping wet, and Éponine was heavy, but she walked.

Cosette had walked this path too many times to count, walked to the beach to sunbathe or to swim; she’d walked with her father or with friends or alone. She’d even walked it in the darkness before, to see sunrises before school or before work. But she’d never walked the oh so familiar route with a _mermaid_ in her arms.

Éponine was crying silently, her face buried in Cosette’s shoulder, and Cosette’s arms were aching, and as she stepped onto the sandy path, the pretty shoes she’d finally worn sunk into the sand and made walking so much harder, but Cosette kept going, stumbling onto the beach, down past the dunes and the soft sand.

The tide was coming in, and the sun was rising, and the waves were crashing down, and Cosette reached the edge of the water.

The water was _freezing,_ and Cosette gasped at the cold on her feet, her ankles, her shins. And when the water was covering her knees, lapping at her thighs, soaking the hem of her skirt, she sunk to her knees and gently lowered Éponine into the water.

Éponine didn’t even flinch at the cold, but her body seemed to sink into the waves, her tail moving back and forth, and she looked up at Cosette with sadness in her eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and her voice sounded like the sea. “Sorry,” and then she was gone, her tail lifting and propelling her forward, and she was lost in the waves.

Cosette sat down heavily, feeling the water over her stomach, her feet numb from the cold, and she cried silently, tears dripping down her face, thinking about her perfect night and the beautiful girl who had left her alone.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/holIyshort) -come and say hi!


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